Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and a terminal for activating an application based on handwriting input.
Discussion of the Background
When a message is received in a communication terminal, a user may view the received message through a screen indicating the arrival of the message and select a reply button to respond to the received message.
If the user selects the reply button, an application for sending a reply message may be executed, and the user may select a message typing interface or a content input box as the application for sending the message is executed, and then a reply may be created through the interface. When the user completes the reply and sends the message via multiple manipulations and conversions of displayed images, the user may have an inconvenient experience of manipulations including launching and terminating one or more applications, e.g., terminating the application for sending the message. The user may be incapable of replying to the received message without running a separate application or a separate window for sending the message. Further, even in a handwriting recognition-enabled terminal, an application supporting a handwriting input may need to be activated for recognizing the handwriting input in order to write a reply through the recognized handwriting after a message is received. Also, multiple manipulation processes described above is involved in sending a message, e.g., launching and terminating a handwriting recognition application, thereby causing an inconvenience to the user.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a process of generating a reply message when a new message is received in a communication terminal according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, the communication terminal (hereinafter “a terminal”) supports a user interface (UI) to notify a user of a message arrival event, such as an arrival of a message, and to receive a selection input of the user with respect to the event, for example, whether to check the message or to reply.
Specifically, the terminal provides a user notification to the user, such as a notification of arrival of the message, by a pop-up window on a home screen of the terminal as shown in a screen 110 if the message is received by the terminal.
If a user selects a reply button in the pop-up window to reply to the received message, the terminal launches a message application for sending a message as shown in a screen 130.
The user selects a text entry field from the application to input a text message and activates an input editor as shown in a screen 150. When the user inputs a reply in the activated input editor and selects a send button, the reply message is sent to an addressee, “SKY”, as shown in a screen 170.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a reply message when a new message is received in a communication terminal according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 2, if a new message is received by a terminal through a message application installed in the terminal in an operation 210, the message application analyzes the new message, and activates a user interface (UI) for outputting a user notification if a message arrival notification is allowed for a user in an operation 220. Hereinafter, the UI for user notification may be referred to as a user notification UI.
The user notification UI activated by the message application allocates a resource needed for the UI and initiates operating procedures in operation 230.
Subsequently, the user notification UI may analyze pieces of information to be added in activating the message application in operation 240. The pieces of information may include information related to the received message and notification, for example, information to be displayed and information of a function that may be executed by an interface e, such as a button (e.g., the “REPLY” button, and “CHECK” button in FIG. 1).
The user notification UI is allocated a window other than a window used by an executed application activated in the foreground, thereby preparing a resource for displaying a screen in operation 250. Allocating of the user notification UI may be performed without significantly disturbing the activation and/or the display of the executed application activated in the foreground.
The user notification UI displays information received from the message application on the allocated screen in operation 260.
The user notification UI registers a user event and a selected area in operation 270. Here, the user notification UI registers a basic processing event defined in a relevant UI, for example, an exit event and a selection event, and a touch selection area, such as a button, of the user notification UI analyzed in operation 240.
The user notification UI receives various types of events input through the terminal, for example, a key input and a touch, and determines whether the events input correspond to the registered user events as registered in the operation 270 in operation 280.
If a touch start point where an event is detected in operation 280 is not a registered area of the display screen of the terminal, a subsequent touch event may be ignored. Subsequently, the user notification UI returns all resources allocated when the activation of the UI is initiated, and terminates the operation in operation 290.
If the touch start point where the event is detected in operation 280 is a registered area, the user notification UI determines whether to select or terminate a function of a registered event and performs operations accordingly.
If a function registered in the message application is selected in operation 280, the user notification UI activates the registered function in operation 295 and then terminates the operation in operation 290.
For example, if a message reply function of FIG. 1 is selected in operation 280, activation of the reply function is defined in the analysis of the UI. When the defined activation is performed, the message application is called and launched based on a defined activation type. A conversation list of a relevant number may need to be defined.
As such, when a user notification event occurs, such as a message arrival notification, the user may need to operate the terminal with multiple touch inputs to activate an application or a particular function. Therefore, aspects of the present invention suggest an approach to resolve such issues. The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form any part of the prior art nor what the prior art may suggest to a person of ordinary skill in the art.